Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law

02/11/2026

Join us for Life on Hold: The Real Impact of Driver’s License Suspensions! This is a three-part webinar series examining how driver’s license suspensions reverberate far beyond the roadway. In North Carolina, if someone fails to pay a fine for a traffic infraction or does not show up for their court date, their license is suspended.

Join us for Part 1: Voices from the Ground: How License Suspensions Disrupt Daily Life. This opening session features people directly impacted by driver’s license suspensions. Panelists will share how losing the ability to drive affected employment, family responsibilities, health care access, and day-to-day survival, revealing the human costs that rarely show up in statutes or court records. Moderated by Lauren Robbins, Litigation Paralegal for the ACLU of North Carolina, who was also impacted by driver’s license suspension.

Sponsored by , , , , the NC Alliance for Highway Safety, Independent Insurers of NC, Advocate Collaborate Educate, and Opportunities Industrialization Center of Rocky Mount.

Learn more and register at the link in bio or at Duke.is/lifeonhold

Learn more and register at

01/23/2026

Welcome to all of our Spring 2026 McAtee JustScience Lab students! These undergraduate, graduate, and law students are joining us to work on projects ranging from DNA exonerations, to parole applications, to data analysis and more. In our JustScience Lab, they not only discuss their research and hear from guest speakers, but also build community and learn from one another. Stay tuned to see the great things they accomplish this semester!

12/12/2025

Congrats to all of our McAtee JustScience Lab Students and our Lab Director for finishing their semester of work! These undergraduate, graduate, and law students worked with team members across the Wilson Center on research, policy, and communications projects and presented their work to each other last week. These students researched and prepared deliverables on subjects ranging from DNA exonerations, to bail policies, to reporting on policing, to reentry resources, to parole representation and more. Thanks to all our students! We’re looking forward to next semester!

12/08/2025

Last month we hosted a screening of , which documents the abuses and neglect in Alabama’s prison system, along with . After the film, we hosted a conversation with of ’s Unlock the Box Project Against Solitary Confinement and Daquan Peters (.god7). Thanks so much to both of them generously sharing their knowledge and experiences of incarceration.

Check out the full recap at duke.is/alabamasolution or scan the QR code in the last slide.

11/21/2025

Thanks everyone who came out last night to the screening and discussion of . We were so grateful to have and Daquan Peters join us for a powerful conversation afterward about how the film relates to prison conditions and solitary confinement right here in North Carolina. Stay tuned for recap of our conversation, coming soon!

11/12/2025

Join us for a screening and talkback of The Alabama Solution - Dinner provided! Register at the link in our bio!

The Duke Justice Project and the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law are partnering for a special screening of The Alabama Solution—a powerful new documentary that offers an unfiltered look into America’s carceral crisis.

Date: Thursday, November 20
Time: 5pm - 8pm
Location: Sanford 004, Duke University

Through investigative reporting that includes footage shot on contraband cell phones and insider accounts from former prison officials and others, the film exposes shocking brutality and institutional corruption in the Alabama prison system.

Dinner will be provided and a discussion with special guests will follow the screening.

Schedule:
5:00pm: Doors open and dinner served
5:30pm: Film screening
7:30pm: Discussion with special guests, including Dr. Craig Waleed, Project Manager for Unlock the Box Campaign Against Solitary Confinement with Disability Rights North Carolina

10/15/2025

Congrats to our Faculty Director, Brandon Garrett on his award for Excellence in Scholarly Research!

05/25/2025

Today marks 5 years since George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, sparking a nationwide conversation on the role of policing in our society. Today, as we remember George Floyd, we reflect on what has and has not changed. Learn more from the Marshall Project:

As reforms stall in some states, the U.S. Supreme Court just made it easier for police to be sued — and perhaps easier for police to defend themselves.

05/23/2025

"The Suspension Clause is quite restrictive permitting Congress to suspend habeas corpus only in exceptional circumstances. The President cannot suspend the writ," Faculty Director Brandon Garrett told NPR this week. Read the full piece at

Facing sharp questioning from Democratic lawmakers, the director of Homeland Security incorrectly described the constitutional right as a presidential authority to deport individuals.

05/21/2025

Many thanks to the Supreme Court of Chile and the Chilean Directorate of International Affairs and Human Rights for inviting faculty director Brandon Garrett and Duke Law School Dean Kerry Abrams on "The Value of Due Process." Professor Garrett spoke about his latest book: Defending Due Process: Why Fairness Matters in a Polarized World.